MATTHEWS, William Reginald
| Service Number: | 24350 |
|---|---|
| Enlisted: | 15 May 1940 |
| Last Rank: | Able Seaman |
| Last Unit: | HMAS Perth (I) D29 WW2 |
| Born: | Kogarah, New South Wales, Australia , 14 April 1920 |
| Home Town: | Sydney, City of Sydney, New South Wales |
| Schooling: | Not yet discovered |
| Occupation: | Clerk |
| Died: | Killed in Action, Sunda Strait, Netherlands East Indies, 1 March 1942, aged 21 years |
| Cemetery: |
Plymouth (Weston Mill) Cemetery Plymouth, Devon, England, United Kingdom Plymouth Naval Memorial Plymouth, Plymouth Unitary Authority, Devon, England Panel 74 Col 1 |
| Memorials: | Australian War Memorial Roll of Honour, East Fremantle HMAS Perth (I) Memorial |
World War 2 Service
| 3 Sep 1939: | Involvement 24350, HMAS Perth (I) D29 WW2 | |
|---|---|---|
| 15 May 1940: | Enlisted Royal Australian Navy, Able Seaman, 24350 |
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Add my storyBiography contributed by Chris Buckley
Supply Assistant William Reginald Matthews (Service No:24350) served with the RAN on HMAS Perth as an Able Seaman/Supply Assistant from 15 May 1940 until 1 March 1942 when he was presumed dead/KiA when the ship sank in the Sundra Strait following engagement with a Japanese Destroyer.
Born in 1920 at Kogarah in Sydney NSW, William was the eldest of two children of Horace James Matthews (b1886 in Goulburn, NSW) and May Lowery (b1893 in Inverell, NSW). Horace (a Soldier) and May married in 1919 in Sydney, NSW - Horace was a Storekeeper/Draper prior to serving in WWI (Driver; Service Nos:3528/85840). Horace and May settled in Sydney where Horace was a Department Manager when he died in 1931. In 1942 May enlisted in the AWAS (Lance Corporal; Service No:NF39202) and died shortly after her medical discharge in 1943.
William worked as a Clerk in Sydney prior to his enlistment in the RAN.